Valencia met by playing local shows together around the tri-state area in separate bands. George Ciukurescu and JD Perry grew up together; attending elementary school, high school, and their first year of college. They joined a band in 2001 called The Capgun Heroes with Brendan Walter and former member Sean Mundy. Shane Henderson sang in the band Attracted to Miss and Max played drums in The Emphasis. They formed the band that is known today as Valencia in 2004. The band is named after the wife of the protagonist, Valencia, in the book by Kurt Vonnegut, Slaughter House 5.
In 2005 Valencia signed to I Surrender Records after the label's owner, Midtown's drummer Rob Hitt, heard their demo tape. After playing the Warped Tour in 2005, they released their first album, This Could Be A Possibility, in October 2005, which was re-released in September 2006.
In 2006, the band was named SPIN Band of the Day and was a finalist for Band of the Year, but lost to Nightmare of You. In May 2006, the band stopped touring because of the death of Shane's girlfriend in a freak lawn mower accident. In July 2006, Valencia traveled to Japan to play the Fuji Rock Festival.
In 2007 the band toured with Boys Like Girls, The Audition and All Time Low in the U.S. Valencia also toured with We the Kings, The Cab, Charlotte Sometimes, and Sing it Loud in April 2008.
In 2009 Valencia performed at the Soundwave festival with New Found Glory, Say Anything and Billy Talent. The band opened for blink-182 in June 2009 on their summer reunion tour.
Valencia's second album, We All Need a Reason to Believe was released on August 26, 2008, featuring 11 new tracks. The album leaked in its entirety on August 16, 2008. On August 19, 2008 it was made available as a full stream on the band's Myspace page. "Safe To Say" is on the soundtrack for MLB 09 The Show. Valencia spent summer 2009 touring with Every Avenue.
Band member Brendan Walter was one of 32 sued by the RIAA in its first round file-sharing suits. During an interview on WCUR's Foundation Radio on December 9, 2010, host Adam Barnard asked about the circumstances surrounding this incident. Walter stated that he had been chosen at random due to the fact that he had illegally downloaded music by American rock band Smash Mouth.
Valencia's third album, "Dancing With A Ghost" was released October 12, 2010. After a long break from touring, the band went back on tour for their new album in October of 2010. The tour includes a few shows of headlining along with shows with bands like Say Anything, Saves the Day and Motion City Soundtrack. The band's tour will also make it all the way to Australia.
In October of 2011, Shane Henderson released a statement regarding the band's decision to go on an indefinite hiatus after 2011. Following a farewell tour in Japan, the band played a final show on December 28th at the Electric Factory in Philadelphia, PA to a sold-out crowd.
I Can't See Myself
Valencia Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Maybe there we can just pretend
This time, it just seems...
If I could do it all over again
And skip those mistakes I made back when
It's just the kind of situation that I was in
To take my life and turn it back around again
That when we look back at all our time spent
You tell me some things just may seem
To matter more to me
And if the sun sets a mile ahead
Maybe there we can understand
This time, it just seems
If we can forget just what was said
Maybe then we can pretend
That all of our lives will be perfect in the end
Take our time, maybe we'll grow up
But you'll learn from what you've done
You might believe in what you see
But no, it never made sense to me
(So I'll do it all over again)
But I learned from all of my time spent
You can't believe in the words that people said
If I want something done I'll have to do it myself again
It makes sense a lot more to me
To see who they are and not who they want to be
The sun set is a mile ahead
And maybe then we can understand
That all (all) of our dreams have never made sense to me
(And if the sun set is a mile ahead
Maybe there we will finally understand)
And now it just seems
If we can just forget what was said
Maybe then we can pretend
That all of our lives will be perfect in the end
Take our time, maybe we'll grow up
But you'll learn from what you've done
You might believe in what you see
But no, it never made sense to...me
I'm so sick of closing my eyes (I'm so sick of closing my eyes)
That I can't see myself getting to sleep tonight
'Cause all these dreams are locked in my mind
And they'll keep me awake for days at a time
Can't forget just what was said
Maybe then we'll understand
That all of our lives will be so perfect in the end
If we forget what was said
Maybe then we can pretend
That all of our lives will be perfect in the end
Take our time, maybe we'll grow up
But you'll learn from what you've done
You might believe in what you see
But no, it never made sense to me
The song 'I Can't See Myself' by Valencia is a reflective song about looking back at past mistakes and feeling regret but also hope for the future. The first verse talks about pretending and forgetting as a way to move forward and make things right. The second verse talks about learning from mistakes and not relying on others to make things happen. The chorus repeats the idea of forgetting and pretending as a way to make life perfect in the end.
Overall, the song acknowledges the struggle of trying to understand and make sense of life and relationships, while also recognizing that sometimes it's necessary to let go of the past in order to move forward.
Line by Line Meaning
And if the sun sets a mile ahead
Maybe we can ignore our problems and pretend everything will be perfect
Maybe there we can just pretend
If we distract ourselves from reality, we can imagine a perfect life
This time, it just seems...
We're struggling to come to terms with our situation
If I could do it all over again
I regret my past and wish I could change things
And skip those mistakes I made back when
I wish I could avoid the errors I made in the past
It's just the kind of situation that I was in
My circumstances led me to make those mistakes
To take my life and turn it back around again
I want to turn my life around and start fresh
I find it hard to understand
I struggle to comprehend
That when we look back at all our time spent
When we reflect on our past experiences
You tell me some things just may seem
You suggest that some things may only appear a certain way
To matter more to me
Some things have greater significance to me
If we can forget just what was said
If we can ignore hurtful words
Maybe then we can pretend
We can imagine a perfect future
That all of our lives will be perfect in the end
We hope for a future without problems or difficulties
Take our time, maybe we'll grow up
We need to mature and learn from our experiences
But you'll learn from what you've done
You'll gain wisdom from your actions and mistakes
You might believe in what you see
You may trust what you observe
But no, it never made sense to me
It doesn't make sense to me
But I learned from all of my time spent
I gained knowledge from my past experiences
You can't believe in the words that people said
You can't always trust what others say
If I want something done I'll have to do it myself again
I need to take control of my life and actions
It makes sense a lot more to me
I understand it better now
To see who they are and not who they want to be
It's important to recognize someone's true self, not their façade
And now it just seems
Our current situation appears difficult to overcome
I'm so sick of closing my eyes
I'm tired of avoiding reality and hiding from my problems
That I can't see myself getting to sleep tonight
My thoughts and worries keep me up at night
'Cause all these dreams are locked in my mind
My aspirations seem unattainable or impossible
And they'll keep me awake for days at a time
I can't escape my concerns
Can't forget just what was said
We can't ignore past words that have hurt us
That all of our lives will be so perfect in the end
We have unrealistic expectations of a flawless future
Contributed by Jack Y. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@kerreta
awh, i love this song! <3 at warped tour '09 i was at the cash cash booth, and the valencia booth was right next to it (i'd never heard of them before) and the dude at the booth convinced me to give them a listen and buy their cd for $2..best 2 bucks i've ever spent :)
@aliciamegan15
THEY"RE SO GOOD LIVE
@MarinoTub
Amazing song.
@BashYouLongtime
I will probably see them again this year too, they're coming around to Nashville. :) Hope you have fun.
@VanLifeTriathlon
this song is the best!!!!!!!!!!!!!
@spyderelf
theyre good, i rememebr their big song called the space between. it was good
@BashYouLongtime
These guys are awesome live, don't pass them up.
@allmin
i'm pretty sure the album version is different... i just listened to the new album for the first time today
@toekneeanne
i'm seeing them tomorrow in new york city =D
@klrbrwneyes
Warped Tour '09, nukka! :D <33